Carbon-remover.



J. E. KNAPP.

CARBON REMOVER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 14, 1913.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

I WWW.

JOHN EVERETT KNAPP, or MELROSE, MASSACHUSETTS.

CARBO1\TREMOVER.

menace.

Application filed November 14, 1913.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l. JOHN Evrzun'rr Kxarr, a citizen of the United States of America. residing at Melrose, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carbon'Removers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to carbon removers or cleaners for internal combustion. engines and it consists in means for abrading' the carbon adhering to the walls of the explosion chamber of such engines and removing it from its place of deposit.

It is well known that the continuous combustion of gasolene or other fuel in an internal combustion engine results in the liberation of carbon and its deposit upon the walls of the combustion chamber; also that such fouling of the combustion chamber seriously impairs the efficiency of the engine and many chemical compositions have been used in efforts to avoid or overcome this difficulty. But there are objections to most of these expedients and it is admitted that a me chanical device which could be conveniently applied and effectively operated, would be, in many respects, superior to the means heretofore employed. Some mechanical devices have been tried, but they lack adaptability or require that the engine be dismantled before they can be used. Mine does not. It can be quickly applied and removed without any further dismantling of the engine than is involved in the removal of the spark plug. Figure 1 of the drawing is a view, partly in full lines, but principally in section, of one form of device embodying my invention, showing also the explosion chamber to which it is applied and some other details of the engine. notched transit and the shifting lever shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view of a modified embodiment of said invention.

23 represents the wall of the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine, 2* the piston at the limit of its stroke, 25 the cylinder wall, 26 the outer wall of the water jacket, 27 the valve and 28 the spark plug opening. None of these parts are any part of ,my invenion; that, as here shown, consists of first, a sleeve like plug or member 1,

threaded to lit the spark plug opening 28,

its outer face being preferably threaded-and provided with a lock nut-2, the purpose of Specification of Letters Patent.

Fig. 2 is a detail view of the.

Patented Apr. flu, 1151146.

Serial No. 800,999.

which is that when the plug is screwed down into the spark plug opening to the desired degree and position, it may lie locked in that position by turning the lock nut 2 down till it makes close contact with the outer face of the wall of the spark plug opening, and to that end I prefer that the thread which engages the lock nut shall be of a different pitch from that which engages the wall of the spark plug opening, though that is not imperative.

Tn the hollow. plug 1 is placed a tube or sleeve 3. to constitute a housing for the cleaner shaft. This housing projects below the inner face of the plug 1 and is curved, as shown at 5, to permit of the easy movement of the flexible shaft, when operated at a considerable angle to the axis of the plug. The housing 3 is shown as a part independent of the plug and it is more conveniently constructed and operated in that form, but I do not limit myself to a device in which the housing and the plug are independent parts.

lVithin the housing 3 is located a shaft 10. of considerable length, the lower part being in the form of a flexible shaft 11 which at its extremity is provided with a cutting or abrading device 12, here shown in the form of a pointed star-like member attached to the shaft 11 by several links of a short chain.

Shaft 10 should be provided with some means for rotating it rapidlyand for this purpose gears and a crank shaft are .provided. To accommodate them, I secure a two armed frame 15, upon the housing 3 by means of set screw 16, preferably providing a bearing-17, for the shaft 10, in the upper arm of the frame. Then a short shaft is mounted in a bearing in the frame and attach a crank 19 to one end and a bevel gear 20 to the other end, the bevel gear being set to mesh with another bevel gear 21. splined on the shaft 10. which is also provided with a swiveled head or handle QQ.

l pon plug 1 and preferably held in posi-' tion by a set screw, lf mounta notched transit (l, and above it, similarly held on I the housing 3, I mount a lever 8, provided with a projection 9, adapted to take, serimz'm, in the notches, cut or otherwise formed, in the face of the transit (l. The'operation is manifest. When it is debecome fouled with carbon 13, the spark plug is removed, the cutting member 12 introduced into the vacant opening, followed by the plug 1 and that is turned down until the end of the housing '3 is beyond the inner wall, Then the plug is locked by turning the nut 2, down upon the face of the wall. Then the housing is turned by lever 8 till its inner end PI'OJECtS toward the desired point and thus secured by engaging the. lever in an appropriate notch 7, after which the shaft 10 is forced downward till the end of the flexible part is at or near the point where the cleaning is. to begin. Now the shaft 18 is rapidly turned and its motion is communicated'to the shaft 10, which turns even more rapidly. Centrifugal force will cause the flexibly secured cutting member to impinge against the carbon upon the inner face of the combustion chamber and cut or rub or otherwise remove it therefrom. As one part is cleaned, the

, tube may be directed toward another by 1 operating the lever 8, and as one section is cleaned another may be attacked by seizing the head 22 and drawing the shaft 10 backward or pushing it downward.

The character of the attachment of the abrading or cutting device renders it particularly effective, since by a slow movement, several of the links of the chain 14 may be made to act as abraders. They will be likely to strike against the encrusted carbon and separate it from the wall to which it has adhered.

If a simpler or cheaper driver isdesired, I may utilize the form shown in Fig. 3, where the shaft is provided with a handpiece 29 sleeved upon shaft 10 and provided with one or more pins 30, which project into spiral slots 4:, cut in the said shaft.

copies of this patent may be obtained for -to secure by Letters-Patent, is

A portable carbon remover, comprising a plug adapted to be inserted in the spark plug opening of an internal combustion engine and to be rigidly secured therein, a tube extending through said plug, rotatable therein, but held rigidly upright, curved beyond the inner face of the plug, as described whereby the curved portion will project into the combustion chamber when the plug is secured in a spark plug opening, and extending in right lines from the outer face of the plug, a-rotatable shaft 1 extending through said tube, flexible as to the portion beyond the tube and back to a line at or beyond the initiation of the bend in said tube, and an abrading member loosely linked to the free end of the flexible shaft, all substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this fifth day of November, 1913.

J. EVERETT KNAPP.

Witnesses:

ALFRED B. CAMP, M. R. CAMP.

five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of latentl, Washington, D. G." 

